I nodded, unsure what to say, so I just replied with, “That would be hard. Wanting something so much you'd let your body go through all that.”
“Hadn't thought of it that way. But birth's the same. If she can get one to term, her body'll go through a different kind of hell.”
“Right. But then you have a baby to raise at the end, Darla.”
“I can't imagine being pregnant. Giving birth,” Darla said, her voice dropping at the end.
“Can't? Or don't want to?”
Joe walked up to the bar, looked at a menu, and called back to us, “Should I just order a bunch of heart attacks in paper-lined baskets?”
Mac, the bartender behind the bar, laughed at him. “Thanks for our new platter name. I'm gonna call it 'Heart Attack in a Basket.' Man, that'll sell more!”
Joe chuckled with him, but kept it low key. Around here, people didn't know what to make of us. Seven years ago, we were punk kids Darla dragged in on open mic night. Then, when Cathy and Calvin got married, we were here for Calvin's bachelor party as crashers, uninvited but searching for Darla after she dumped us.
Alex was there that night, too.
And, of course, so was Marlene.
For a dive joint in a dinky town, Jerry's held a lot of memories for us.
Joe talked with Mac, Alex at his side, as Marlene reached for me, her squeeze a little too familiar, way too long, and she smelled like a frat party. Real tobacco smoke and sour grain coated her skin.
“Surfer Boy!” she declared, eyes floating. “Good to see you again. Is Asshole getting us all a round to celebrate the baby?”
Darla shot me a sheepish look.
At least now I knew where the nicknames came from, and it wasn’t Marlene.
Alex pulled out his wallet and argued briefly with Joe, who relented. It was Alex's credit card that got handed to Mac.
“He's got it,” Mac said, pointing to Alex, who made his way down the hall to the bathrooms without a word.
“I have the best son-in-law in the world,” Marlene said to no one, everyone, and then to Mac she said, “Make the next one top shelf.” She nodded to an empty glass on the bar.
Mac just shook his head slightly, the closed-captioned television behind him suddenly coated in brightness as a commercial came on during some game.
“No problem, Marlene. But you got to eat, too.”
She patted her belly. “No problem there!”
Josie's shoulders went up to her ears.
“Let's get a big booth,” Joe said, moving to the area close to the bathroom. “There's six of us.”
“I'll sit with you!” Marlene said. “That makes seven!”
Joe's bridge of his nose did the quick math.
“Actually, it's six.”
“Not with Arlo here!”
We turned to see the main door to the bar covered in shadow.
“Who's Arlo?” Josie asked, though her voice made it clear she hated to even have to ask.
“My guy.”
Josie mouthed an obscenity to Darla, who shrugged.
“You know,” Joe said carefully, putting his hand on Marlene's shoulder like a conspirator, “those booths are too small. How about we get a couple of tables? Josie and Darla can – ”
“Tha's a great idea!” Marlene said as Mac tapped the bar, pointing to her drink.
Josie shot him a grateful look as she and Darla grabbed one, and Joe and I took another. Marlene sat next to him as I bridged the two. No one else sat. We just stood behind the chairs, in limbo.
A man the size of two linebackers walked up to her, looked at the drink, kissed her cheek and said, “Starting early, baby girl?”
“My daughter and son-in-law are here, and they're running a tab for us.”
Darla turned to Josie as Alex walked back and whispered, “How big is Alex's credit limit?”
“Mac knows when to cut her off,” Josie said. “And we're not here forever. One hour, okay? Let's eat, have some drinks, and get out of here sooner rather than later if it's okay with you.” She swallowed, hard. “Then again, at least now I'm meeting my family obligation to my mom.”
Alex heard that, bending down to whisper, “Mac told me he'd cut her off at four more. Waters everything down so she doesn't notice. Does his best.”
Josie nodded, zero emotion in her eyes. “Great.”
“It's self-serve!” Mac called out, carrying a tray filled with baskets. “Crystal ain't on until 5 to wait tables, so come get your heart attacks in baskets!” He grinned at Joe, pointing a pen at him. “I love that. Heart Attack in a Basket. You in advertising?”
“No. Music.”
“Oh. Right. That band Darla does.”
Josie snickered. So many ways to interpret that statement.
“Hey.” We all looked over at Arlo, who had taken off his baseball cap, one hand rubbing a mostly-bald head. He was big and swollen, with bright blue eyes that peeked out curiously, a few day's growth on his face. Dark hair everywhere. He smelled like honest sweat and mechanic's grease. “Arlo.”
I shook his hand first, then he made his way around, stopping at Alex.
“You're the son-in-law?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks for this, then,” he said, holding up a Rolling Rock.
Joe's jaw twitched.
We settled in, me, Joe, Alex, Arlo, and Marlene at one table, Josie and Darla at a two-seater next to us.
I didn't expect much conversation from Arlo, and I was right. He sat next to Marlene and began watching the game on the TV over the bar, slowly sipping beer, completely comfortable to not perform according to any social expectations. Marlene's hand was on his knee, but it wasn't improper.
Joe looked like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin, tie it to a stick, and wave it as a white flag of surrender.
That didn't seem like such a bad idea.
Chapter 16
Darla
“Well, this ain't weird or nothing. No, sir. We're all just one big happy family,” I said as Josie zombified herself, ignoring the cornucopia of food before us. Joe and Alex ordered everything they offered here, even the fried pickle chips that tasted like someone took a flavored condom, covered it in batter and deep fried it.
I suddenly appreciated Jeddy's back in Boston way, way more.
I grabbed a mozz stick, shoved it in red sauce, and took a bite. Was it gourmet? No. Was it tasty anyhow?
Also, no.
But it fed my growling stomach and that's all that mattered.
Josie took a sip of her margarita and said, “Fifty-three minutes to go.”
“You have a countdown? What are you, Bar NASA now?”
“Basically.”
“I'm sorry, Josie. We came here to relax and instead we got... that.” Marlene didn't even bother to sit with us. In most settings like this, the women gravitated together and the men did, too. Marlene staying over there with Arlo wasn't a surprise, but it was a weird kind of disappointment. Josie didn't want to spend time with her mama, but she didn't want to be rejected, either.
So instead, she got the worst of both worlds.
And all on a trip to come out here and meet an oops! baby she'd give half her body parts to experience.